KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia should shift from rhetoric focused on racial or religious identities within the cabinet to emphasise the importance of inclusivity.
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive officer Dr Tricia Yeoh said roles such as the Human Resources Minister should transcend and serve the interests of all citizens, irrespective of their ethnicity.
This comes after former Penang deputy chief minister II P. Ramasamy said earlier that the cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is a big disappointment to the Indians in the country.
"Apart from the appointment of two Indians as deputy ministers, there was no appointment of an Indian as a minister," he said in a Facebook post.
Ramasamy added that if Anwar had respect for the Indian community, he would have appointed two full Indian ministers and that there are qualified candidates in PKR and DAP.
During an interview on NST's Beyond the Headlines, Yeoh said relying on racial representation is tricky because it does not shoulder the pluralistic fabric of Malaysian society.
"As a Chinese person who works in a think tank dealing with public policy and research, I'm not just writing about Chinese issues in the country. I'm writing about the interest of all Malaysians, and I would expect the same from cabinet ministers as well," she said.
She said having Steven Sim Chee Keong leading the Human Resources Ministry does not mean that Indian interests will not be represented.
Yeoh viewed Anwar's cabinet reshuffle as setting the tone for the ministers to "really need to buck up, and their performance will be closely monitored".
"We are trying very hard to move towards a situation where anyone can represent anyone's interests," she said.